She won a TV Talent show contest, namely Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour in 1952, the following year she formed a musical group with her brother, sister and cousins who christened themselves The Pips.
Her first taste of fame came when she was a mere seven years of age.
It’s the kind of name that’s earned, not bestowed, and when the woman it describes is Gladys Knight, there’s no-one who it fits better. You can keep your “King of Rock’n’Roll”, “Lord of the Dance”, and “Pop Princess”, is there a nickname in music that sounds as deliciously regal as “Empress of Soul”? I really don’t think there is.
